Sport, Media and Culture with a Foundation Year

UCAS code: P36F

Here's what Swansea University says about its Sport, Media and Culture with a Foundation Year course.

The Foundation Year gives you an exciting introduction to Higher Education, setting you up with the skills, confidence, and knowledge that you’ll need to be successful on your undergraduate degree. It’s ideal if you need a little more support after Further Education or are returning to education after a gap.

After progression from the foundation year, you will have the chance to explore the degree programme that equips you with the skills for a future career as a professional sports content creator and communicator across the contemporary sports mediascape.

The course has been developed to ensure you will graduate as a skilled and competent sports content creator, equipped with journalistic skills, and adept at creating and promoting multi-media sports-focused content, from podcasts to match reports and from sports commentary to promotional sports communication strategies.

Why Sport, Media and Culture with a Foundation Year at Swansea? You will be taught by academics who have a wide range of industry experience and will benefit from access to industry-standard filming, editing and design facilities. In addition, our close links with sports organisations such as Swansea City FC, the Ospreys, and our partnership with Sport Swansea means that you will gain a sports communications industry perspective across your degree programme.

This programme is based within our Media, Communication, Journalism and PR department.

Media and Communication at Swansea is ranked:

• 8th in the UK for Student Satisfaction (Complete University Guide 2025)

• 8th in the UK for Student Experience (Times Good University Guide 2025)

• 10th in the UK for Teaching Quality (Times Good University Guide 2025)

The course is based at out Singleton Campus on the stunning Swansea Bay on the edge of the Gower Peninsula. You will also be within close proximity to Swansea city, a vibrant, multi-cultural, safe and cost-effective city.

Your Sport, Media and Culture with a Foundation Year Experience Our BA (Hons) Sport, Media and Culture with Foundation Year degree will give you an exciting introduction to higher education and is part of a four-year undergraduate integrated degree.

During your Foundation Year, you will learn the key skills you’ll need to make your degree a success while developing knowledge of your subject area and how it relates to the humanities and social sciences.

You will learn how to improve your oral and writing skills, investigate and obtain information, present your ideas in a range of formats, solve problems and make informed decisions.

You will start the degree course in your second year. On our Sport, Media and Culture programme you’ll develop practical skills in multimedia journalism, including writing text reports for newspapers, magazines, and websites; conducting interviews and crafting feature stories; capturing and editing still images; filming, editing, and publishing video reports; and creating engaging audio content, including podcasts.

Outside of your studies you will be part of a supportive student community and will be able to get involved in many different sports clubs and societies including the Media society.

In your Foundation Year, you will typically study areas including: Academic Writing and Skills Development; Introduction to Being Human; Introduction to Research; Critical Reflection and Problem Solving; Place, Memory & Identity in Literature, Film, Visual Art & Media; and a Research Essay.

In Year 1, you will typically study areas including: Research Methods & Ethics; Introduction to Sports Biomechanics; Human Anatomy; Sports Performance Science; Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology; and Metabolism for Physical Activity, Sport and Health.

In Year 2, you will typically study areas including: Developing Research Methods for Sports Science; Employability, Innovation & Engagement; Exercise Physiology; Sport Performance Science 2; Exercise Science: Interventions and Applications; Biomechanical Technology, Measurement & Analysis; Contemporary themes in sport psychology; Critical Issues in Sport Integrity and Athlete Welfare; Philosophy of Sports Ethics; The Ethics of Doping: Health, Sport and Society; Kinanthropometry; and Human Nutrition.

In Year 3, you will typically study areas including: a Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Dissertation; Sport, Diet and Disease; Paediatric Exercise Science; Sport Integrity, Ethics and Policy; Sports Biomechanics; Health Related Exercise; Applied Sport Psychology; and Sport and Exercise Physiology.

We are proud to provide an outstanding educational experience, using the most effective learning and teaching approaches, carefully tailored to suit the specific needs of your course. Apart from a small number of online-only courses, most of our courses consist of in-person, on-campus teaching, enabling full engagement with your lecturers and fellow students. Practical skills sessions, lab work seminars, and workshops predominantly take place in person, allowing for group working and demonstrations. We also operate virtual labs and Simulated Learning Environments which will facilitate greater access to training opportunities in the future. However, our approach also includes the use of some online learning to support and enhance traditional face-to-face teaching. Online learning may take place ‘live’ using software such as Zoom, allowing you to interact with the lecturer and other students and to ask questions. Lecture recordings also allow for more flexibility to revisit material, to revise for assessments and to enhance learning outside of the classroom. Some modules have extra resources in Canvas, such as videos, slides and quizzes enabling further flexible study. This course may offer some modules taught through the medium of Welsh or bilingually for students who consider themselves to be fluent Welsh speakers. For more details on the provision available see the Welsh Provision expander below.